What a time to be looking for good games like Hollow Knight. With a sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, set to be one of the biggest new games of 2023 you've only got a couple of months left to check out some of the competition. Team Cherry created one of the best metroidvania games of all-time in the original Hollow Knight, so our recommendations offer a similar level of challenge, intrigue, and mystery. So keep on reading for the 10 games like Hollow Knight you should absolutely play today.
Axiom Verge
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
A classic Metroidvania with tons of hidden details to find. The aesthetic is a light year from Hollow Knight: you play a scientist called Trace who wakes up in a high-tech world brought to life with a retro art style. But its branching world, and the many walled-off areas that you can only unlock after you find the right item, will make you feel at home. You’re firing guns, not swinging blades, and they’re all fun to wield. Projectiles range from bouncing bullets to pink blades that spin along any surface they hit. The story is forgettable, but once you get your hands on the Quantum Variegator and the Reverse Slicer (both real weapon names), you’ll quickly forgive a few narrative stumbles.
Ori and the Blind Forest
Developer: Moon Studios
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Switch
Ori’s world feels less open and complex than Hollow Knight’s, but no less varied and beautiful. Its luscious forests, ruins and caves will keep you wondering what’s ahead, and its focus on platforming over combat – you can eventually wall jump, double jump, super jump, climb and dash – make each section a joy to explore. It doesn’t have as many secrets as Hollow Knight, but it has enough to keep you searching every corner, and clever puzzles help break up the pace. Come for the visuals, stay for the tight movement and story, which sees guardian spirit Ori rejuvenate the forest from the game’s title. If you enjoy the Blind Forest, it could also be worth checking out the more recent follow-up, Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
Hyper Light Drifter
Developer: Heart Machine
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
At first glance, Hyper Light Drifter doesn’t look anything like Hollow Knight: it isn’t even a side-scroller. But if what you loved about Hollow Knight was the enchanting setting, cryptic story and learning enemies’ attack patterns, this should be the next game you play. It’s a difficult action-RPG, and you fight lots of enemies at once with no defensive abilities to speak of, but you’ll accrue lots of weapons and skills to thin the crowd. Combat is fluid when you get a feel for it. It has no dialogue or text, so you just have to glean what narrative you can from the environments and music, which gives it an air of mystery. Some players will find it too abstract, but if you enjoyed learning Hollow Knight’s lore then you're sure to enjoy reading into Hyper Light Drifter's visuals.
Guacamelee! 2
Developer: DrinkBox Studios
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Guacamelee! 2 is a bright, bold platformer with catchy music, neon luchador masks and more jokes than you can shake your grappling hook at. It’s a mix of arcade beat-em-up and thoughtful platformer in which you flip between two worlds – the living and the dead – on the fly to unveil new routes through one screen, chaining together jumps and dashes to reach your goal. It has a sprinkle of Hollow Knight’s exploration, too. You always know where to go, but side quests take you off the main path and you’ll find secrets if you go digging. Some routes are walled behind certain abilities – although it’s always obvious how to get through. Ultimately, the charming world will keep you playing with its humour, video game references, and charismatic NPCs. It even has drop-in, drop-out co-op so you can bash bosses with a friend in tow.
Salt and Sanctuary
Developer: Ska Studios
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Hollow Knight was partly inspired by Dark Souls, and if it’s more dodge-and-swipe combat you crave then Salt and Sanctuary will satisfy your appetite. It’s a punishing 2D melee game with big bosses and lots of similarities to Hidetaka Miyazaki’s series, right down to the presence of souls (called salt here) and refillable flasks. Like in Hollow Knight, it offers plenty of scope to backtrack and explore. If you liked tweaking The Knight’s charms to create new builds then Salt and Sanctuary gives you even more customisation, including picking a starting class. You’ll die a lot, and you might feel like giving up – but don’t. Salt and Sanctuary is worth seeing through to the end.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Developer: ArtPlay
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Legendary developer Koji Igarashi is synonymous with the Castlevania series and his most recent game, the unashamedly old-school Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, is very much in the same mould. It’s a Castelvania game in all but name: the baddie’s fortress is a castle, you can’t attack up or down, and abilities you pick up from downed enemies often add one of their own moves to your arsenal. Igarashi doesn’t venture out of his comfort zone, but that’s okay: there are plenty of games on this list that tread new ground. Short of booting up 1997’s Symphony of the Night (and you can do just that on PS4 with the Castlevania Requiem collection), Bloodstained is your best glimpse at an era that Hollow Knight owes an awful lot to.
Steamworld Dig 2
Developer: Image & Form
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Steamworld Dig 2 hands you a pickaxe and asks you to carve a route directly downwards to search for the protagonist of the first game. But this seemingly linear goal is soon diluted as you deviate-off path and find caverns, chests and doors leading to self-contained puzzle dungeons. The first game was procedurally-generated – in this sequel, everything is created by designers, which makes progression more satisfying and logical. As you pick up upgrades, such as a jetpack or a sticky bomb launcher, new paths will organically reveal themselves, and you’ll find even more gold to spend on better items at the surface. The snappy controls round it all off.
Dead Cells
Developer: MotionTwin
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Dead Cells is arguably the best game on this list, but probably the least like Hollow Knight. Each life is its own run and death resets you to the start. And then you go again, hacking and slashing through levels that remain thematically the same, but in which the layouts change. You progress further and further each time, unlocking item blueprints and spending cells gleaned from enemies on new gear. You’re not playing for the sense of exploration and backtracking: you’ll find secret sections, but the sequence of biomes is set from the start. What you play Dead Cells for is the punchy combat and responsive platforming, and the way they both change thanks to the skills and items you pick up. It helps that it’s a looker, too.
Hades
Developer: Supergiant
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Switch
Supergiant's masterful roguelike may differ in many ways to Hollow Knight, but you're sure to find its hack-and-slash action and sense of progression appealing. Just like Hollow Knight, Hades has very polished combat with its own signature flair. As Zagrius, you must try to get out of the underworld. Based on Greek mythology, you make your way through the ever-changing dungeons to freedom with the help of godly boons that give you different abilities and buffs. You may end up dying a lot, but you'll have the best time doing it. Not to mention it looks fantastic, with a cast of excellent characters at its heart.
Metroid Dread
Developer: MercurySteam
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch
When it comes to looking for something to scratch that Metroidvania itch, why not go back to its roots? Metroid Dread is the latest entry featuring Samus Aran, and it's a great one to jump into if you're after something in a similar vein to Hollow Knight. While Team Cherry's platformer gives you more freedom in terms of exploration, you'll no doubt enjoy the side-scrolling action of Metroid Dread. Set on a remote planet with killer robots and alien lifeforms hunting you, Samus has a variety of abilities to make use of as you progress, including a stealthy Phantom cloaking skill to hide from foes. While it's certainly more linear in comparison to Hollow Knight, it's still well worth a look.
